


Making it Work

by dharma_club



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Project Runway Fusion, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:09:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23219032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dharma_club/pseuds/dharma_club
Summary: Dylan Strome goes on Project Runway.
Relationships: Connor McDavid/Dylan Strome (past), Mitch Marner/Dylan Strome
Comments: 2
Kudos: 74





	Making it Work

**Author's Note:**

> Believe it or not, this a twitter drabble based on Ali's prompt "Ditch, project runway AU".  
> It might have gone out of hand.

Alex submits Dylan to season twenty of Project Runway on a whim, probably too tired of the Dylan-shaped bundle of blankets on his couch. And Dylan plays along because— Well, if he’s honest with himself, it’s because he’s hoping this will be his way of getting over Connor. After all, it’s kind of hard to find the will to be _creative_ after your boyfriend, the Connor McDavid dumps you (yes, the very same Connor McDavid who made that Michelle Obama dress, one and the same,. Dylan had been sewing on beads for hours until his fingers bled on that dress – he’d know).

There’s some girl from season fourteen who's wearing too much makeup for anyone not attending the Met gala, and she fawns over Dylan’s audition looks; keeps calling him “detail genius” and saying how “revolutionizing” the clasps closure on his black velvet dress is. 

Somehow he gets in. The producers keep telling to speak slower whenever he stands in front of a camera, but Dylan just shrugs and keeps talking when he's asked anything. They can edit him later if they need.

Dylan meets one other contestant on the curb outside of Parsons, just a short mom-type named Monique, who immediately smiles and hugs him. He holds the door open for her, trying not to look directly at the camera following them. There’s a couple other people already in the working room, an older man and a few girls with some very confusing hairstyles, all clapping when Dylan and Monique walk in. The next group in after them is a tall blonde woman and— Oh no. Oh _no no no no no_.

Mitch Marner is smiling from ear to ear when he walks through the door, already laughing over something stupid no doubt, and Dylan curses under his breath. He can see one of the producers direct a camera at Mitch, probably waiting for the moment he spots Dylan, because _of course_. Of fucking course they know.

“So how was it like to see Mitch here?” they ask him during his interview at the end of the day. “You already knew him right?”

Dylan scowls. But he still explains about FIT, and how much of a nuisance Mitch was back when they went to school.

“But what do you think about his work?” they ask.

“It’s _okay_ , I guess,” Dylan says begrudgingly. “If you’re into that sort of thing.”

They’re thrown into the first challenge an hour later and while Dylan immediately knows what he wants to create for the evening gown challenge, and thought he even finds the a nice looking dark blue fabric at Mood, it doesn’t go as smoothly as he’d like. He gets to the hotel room production set up for him already tired and spent, and thinks about the endless work he has left to do. But somehow it's nice to have a clear purpose again.

He barely finishes the dress on time ”Dylan, you can’t be sewing anymore,” Tim tells him sternly, pointing at his watch as Dylan keeps fixing the hem as they all wait for the cameras to set up. But it’s all ultimately worth it when Nina nods looking at his dress.

“I like it,” she says and Dylan breathes in relief. “It’s a little traditional, but you’ve managed to give it a fashionable, youthful air. Well done.”

“I love the yellow and red piping against the dark blue,” Heidi nods. “It’s very fresh.”

Mitch still ends up winning, his jewel-tone dark green satin gown having more "drama" than Dylan’s dress, but Dylan is too relieved to be too resentful about it.

They’re both still there when the fourth challenge is over. Dylan wins that one, having created an immaculate white suit for the wedding theme, once again barely making it on time. But he’s been consistently in the top, and so has Mitch so he slid down to only being safe with his winter wonderland wedding gown. Not that you'd be able to tell by the way he’s grinning, sitting two chairs away from Dylan and waiting for Heidi to tell them their next challenge.

Which turns out to be athletic wear for the winter olympics. Which they have to create in pairs. _Pre-designated pairs_.

“I think,” Mitch says, sitting in from of Dylan, evidently refusing to acknowledge how awkward this is. “We could do something with the maple leaf on it, like a pattern. ‘Cause we’re both Canadian.”

“Mmmm,” Dylan hums, letting his pencil draw another line, making the skirt he’s sketching a little boxier. He feels daring. “Let’s do it in red. Mitch nods, enthusiastic. 

Mitch drapes and Dylan sews, they bicker, but it doesn't linger and in the end they have three pieces that's a mix of both of their styles.   
  
“It’s incredible,” Zac says after Dylan and Mitch explain the outfit on the runway. “It’s so innovative, can she turn around again? I want to see the collar on the windbreaker.

They don’t win, but Mitch still jumps on Dylan, hugging him and laughing delightfully in his ear before they leave the runway. Dylan maybe doesn’t hate it.

So Dylan has to admit Mitch is perhaps not as bad as he used to be when they went to school together. He’s smart and happy, playful in a way Dylan would never know how to be, easily making friends with all the other designers. Dylan watches him chat to Damien, and he can’t help but notice the way Mitch’s hair falls on his face, soft and tempting.

“Designers, please gather around,” Tim says on the eighth challenge and Dylan learns that not only will they have to create a look for the Correspondents Dinner, but _Connor_ will be the guest judge, because Dylan didn’t have enough things to freak out about, obviously.

Mitch turns around to look at him when they're alone in the sewing room, his clear blue eyes concerned.   
  
“Are you, eh,” he bites his lower lip.

“It’s fine, it’s whatever,” Dylan bites at him, not looking up, trying to focus on the soothing drone of the machine.

Dylan probably overthinks it, and by the time he knows what he wants he doesn’t have the time to finish it. It’s not Dylan’s best work, far from it, and he, of course, ends up in the bottom.  
  
"It's a little _matronly_." Zac scowls. 

“Dylan’s so much better than this,” Connor says from his place next to Nina, a calculating frown on his face. Dylan wants to jump off the runway and maybe punch him, but he doesn’t.

Dylan somehow doesn’t go home that week, but he still feels hollow, sitting in the waiting room next to the runway, too afraid of letting the camera see how devastated he truly feels.

"Mitch," Tim says, one hand cupping his elbow, and the other pressed to his mouth. "I’m confused. Could you explain your vision here?"

Dylan can see Mitch deflate from across the room. Challenge ten is based on power tools , which for some reason has Mitch struggling. Dylan has already received critique for his raincoat and overall ensemble (“Maybe only use one of the neon colors,” Tim suggested. Which just, no.) and is now trying to not eavesdrop too obviously to what’s going on at Mitch’s station.

There’s a lot of blue denim camo fabric on Mitch's mannequin which is not something Dylan would ever expect him to ever pick. Apparently neither did Mitch.

“It’s ah,” Mitch licks his lips nervously. “It’s kind of a take on building something, and I liked how sturdy this denim was. I’m not sure what’s going wrong here, though,”

“You’re one of the most creative designers I’ve ever met,” Tim says shaking his his. “But you need to find a way to make sense of what you’re trying to do here. I worry for you.”

“Yeah,” Mitch says unhappily.

But he doesn’t quite “make it work”.

“I expected so much more from you,” Zac tells Mitch on the runway, who looks like he might be on the verge of crying. He’s miraculously safe though, no one going home that week, and Dylan doesn’t have the words to express how relieved he is.

Dylan holds Mitch tightly once he’s back in the waiting room, conscious of Mitch’s wet, warm breath on his skin and the way his heart squeezes at the thought of not having him there.

"Are you upset no one went home?" the producer asks him in his his interview.

Dylan shrugs. "Mitch deserved to stay. They both did." 

They both get to the top five, which means they both will get to do a collection for fashion week regardless of who goes through to the final. Not that that makes Dylan want to win any less, but it’s a comforting thought. The last challenge was about avant-garde outerwear, which Dylan still doesn’t know how he ended up in the top for, but it has left him extremely exhausted. All he wants is some alone time with his pillow.

Nonetheless, there’s a knock on his door and Dylan gets up to open it, expecting someone from the production staff.

“Hey,” Mitch says when Dylan opens the door.

“What the hell are you doing?” Dylan hisses, pulling Mitch into the room by his shirt and shutting the door before anyone else can see him there. “Mitch, what is going—”

It happens without him noticing. One moment Mitch is a foot away, the other he's pressed against Dylan, Dylan't fingers still clutched in his shirt, Mitch's hands sliding around Dylan't neck and pulling his face lower. Mitch’s lips are soft but insistent on Dylan’s, keeping the kiss light in the beginning. His tongue warm as it traces Dylan’s lips, waiting for Dylan to deepen the kiss, which he does. Slides his hand to rest on Mitch’s lower back instead and focuses on finally, _finally_ , getting to do this.

“I need to go back,” Mitch whispers against his lips after a few minutes, and Dylan makes a whiny protesting sound that makes Mitch laugh in surprise, but it’s not mean, not at all, just breathless and exasperated. “I shouldn’t have done this now.”

“Just,” Dylan tries to control his thoughts, his mind running wild with the possibility of _this_. Of him and Mitch _together_. He takes a sharp breath. “I don’t want to just forget it.”

“Me neither,” Mitch smiles. “But let’s wait. Until we’re back home.”

Heidi is in the Parsons working room the next morning, which is never a good sign, even on days when Dylan isn’t struggling to tear his gaze away from Mitch’s mouth.

"Welcome your models," she says cheerily and Dylan turns to see the doors open to a group of women. _Oh god_.

“Mom!” he’s out of his chair before he even notices that’s the opposite of what production told them to do. His mom feels solid, real, her arms comforting and real around him. She smells like home.

Predictably, it’s not that straightforward and instead of getting to spend some time with her Dylan is assigned to give a makeover to Mitch’s mom, Bonnie.

"So, what would you like?" Dylan asks her once they sit down near his station. From the corner of his eye can see Mitch and Dylan's mom laugh, their heads bent together over Mitch's sketching pad. It’s. _It’s a lot_.

"Whatever you want," Bonnie shrugs easily, and Dylan can clearly see where Mitch gets his sunny disposition. "As long as I don’t wear anything that shows my nipples, I’m up for anything." And Dylan laughs, he can definitely work with that.

He makes Bonnie a coral sundress, because she said she liked happy colors and he wanted her to have something she could host brunch in. He tries to keep it age-appropriate without turning to the predictable mom-silhouette, making a nice full skirt and opting for a boat neck and a low back. Bonnie happily walks down the runway in it, as if that’s what she’s been doing all her life. The judges love it.

It’s Mitch who wins though, making Dylan’s mom a long, brilliant black and gold dress, making her look confident and regal. It’s—

“Beautiful,” Dylan says when he sees her walking proudly on the runway in it, then turns to Mitch and softly whispers. “Mitch, I— Thanks.”

Dylan is tired and at the end of his rope, functioning on nothing but caffeine and ambition by the time they’ve finished their last runway. He's made a dress he loves, showed it to the judges and tried to explain his point of view as a designer, and now it's— It's out of his hands, really. He feels proud of what he’s done here, excited about what comes next. Even if they won’t air it on tv he’s going to make a collection for fashion week, a full collection of his own.

He wants to start working immediately. He wants to sleep forever. He wants to go home and call Mitch and—

“Hey,” Mitch says quietly, interrupting Dylan's train of thought. He's leaning against Dylan on the waiting room couch. “You know you deserve this.”

Dylan smiles, squeezing his eyes. He wants to kiss Mitch so much in that moment, pride and exhaustion, and so much _longing_ battling is his heart. He slides his fingers through Mitch’s hair instead, hoping that production edits it out, sticks to the rivalry storyline they keep pushing for in interviews. “You too.”

At the end, it’s just the two of them left standing on the runway.

“You made this very hard for us," Heidi says. "Mitch, Dylan – one of you will be in, and one of you will be out."

Dylan’s heart is beating a thousand miles a minute. Heidi pauses and Mitch slips his hand into Dylan's and squeezes it reassuringly. Dylan squeezes back.


End file.
